Top rubber growers to discuss cooperation on Friday

Top rubber growers to discuss cooperation on Friday Reuters Jakarta

The world's top three natural rubber producers -- Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia -- will meet on Friday to try to iron out problems linked to last year's tripartite agreement, a senior Indonesian official said.

The three countries agreed in December to cut output by four percent and exports by 10 percent starting earlier this year to boost rubber prices, which fell late last year to 30-year lows of below 50 U.S. cents/kg.

"Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has invited Trade and Industry Minister Rini Soewandi and Malaysian Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik to hold talks in Bangkok on Friday," Ferry Yahya, a senior official from the Trade and Industry ministry, told Reuters.

Yahya said the meeting would focus on how to solve the problems that have hampered implementation of the agreement.

Speaking on Wednesday, Soewandi said Indonesia would propose Thailand revise its intervention policy as most of the difficulties with the agreement were due to the Thai private sector.

She said the Thai government had not received much cooperation from the private sector which had previously relied heavily on government subsidies.

Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia account for around 80 percent of the world's natural rubber production.